Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture
Alexandria Miller
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Strictly Facts is a podcast and educational platform that aims to educate and celebrate Caribbean history through our art and music.
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Mar 22, 2023
Review Session: Caribbean Feminisms
Did you enjoy our last episode for Women's History Month? Take a quick listen to this special Review Session as host, Alexandria Miller, explores some of her key takeaways and offers several recommendations on scholars, activists, and even books to check out if you're interested in learning more about Caribbean Feminisms. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Mar 8, 2023
A Brief History of Women's History and Feminisms in the Caribbean with Sarah-Anne Gresham
Happy Women's History Month and International Women's Day! In honor of all Caribbean bad gyals at home and in the diaspora, Sarah-anne Gresham joins us for a discussion on Caribbean Feminisms and the ways Caribbean women have challenged oppressions and campaigned for their rights and the rights of others.
Sarah-Anne Gresham is the co-founder of Intersect Antigua which is a Queeribbean feminist collective of stories, art, and teach-ins on gender justice. Sarah was a recipient of a Fulbright scholarship in 2018 and received a Master of Arts degree in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from George Washington University in the spring of 2020. She graduated as a Columbian College of Arts and Sciences “Graduate Distinguished Scholar” in recognition of her work as a graduate research specialist and communications assistant, as well as her master’s thesis on feminist historiography and literary theory. She is now a third-year doctoral student and teaching assistant at Rutgers University with research interests in Black/Caribbean feminist thought, affect theory, comparative racialization, and Japanese anime. Her work as a teaching assistant to undergraduate students is rooted in understanding and critiquing limited liberal feminist paradigms of “equality” with men. Rather than seeking inclusion, equality, or reforms within systems and categories that perpetuate harm, she agitates for abolition and transformative justice and for dismantling, in the words of bell hooks, “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.” Follow Sarah on Instagram and follow Intersect Antigua on Instagram and Twitter.
*Minor Correction: The Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence are November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) to December 10, Human Rights Day. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Feb 22, 2023
Consequences of the Environment on Caribbean Education with Dr. Jessica S. Samuel
The environment plays a tremendous role in the Caribbean's growth and development. How often, though, do we consider its impact on education? In this episode, Dr. Jessica S. Samuel joins for a discussion on educational equity and the environment, with a special focus on the US Virgin Islands and the hidden racial ramifications of environmental conservation on learning in St. John.
Dr. Jessica S. Samuel is the founder and CEO of Radical Education & Advocacy League, LLC (REAL) an educational equity firm focused on improving BIPOC student outcomes. An Afro-Caribbean woman, Dr. Samuel was born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands with roots throughout the wider Caribbean. She is an educator, interdisciplinary scholar, and decolonial activist who studies race, education, colonialism and the environment, including where they all converge in the United States and Caribbean. Dr. Samuel’s research has been supported by the Mellon Foundation, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and Social Science Research Council. She holds a PhD in American Studies from Boston University, a Master of Education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and a Bachelor in African American Studies and Anthropology from Wesleyan University. Dr. Samuel is also a proud alumna of Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Teach for America, and the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers. Follow Dr. Samuel on Instagram here.
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Feb 8, 2023
A Brief History of the Two Saint Martins/Sint Maartens
Did you know that there are two territories on the island of Saint Martin that go by roughly the same name? In this brief episode, we share just how the French Saint-Martin and Dutch Sint Maarten came to be in the eastern Caribbean. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Jan 25, 2023
Anti-LGBTQ+ Discrimination and Queer Activism in the Caribbean with Ryan Persadie
For decades, the Caribbean has gained a reputation for being one of the most homophobic regions in the world. In this episode, Ryan Persadie joins Strictly Facts for a discussion on the historic, colonial influence of anti-queer legislation and how the Caribbean and diaspora has worked together to evolve since the nineteenth century.
Ryan Persadie is a writer, artist, educator, and PhD Candidate in Women and Gender studies and Sexual Diversity studies at the University of Toronto. His aesthetic and scholarly work investigates queer Caribbean diasporas, performance, aesthetics, and Afro-Asian intimacies. His current doctoral work specifically explores how Anglophone Caribbean music, dance, vocality, and embodiment offer salient archives to pursue critical erotic place- and self-making practices within and among queer Indo-Caribbean diasporas. Outside of academia, Ryan is a community organizer with the Caribbean Equality Project, and performs as a drag artist where he goes by the stage name of Tifa Wine.Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Jan 11, 2023
New Year, New Episodes!
It's a new year which means we're celebrating two years in podcasting! Listen to this brief episode on our goals for 2023, including something big we've got in the works!
Take our listener survey now and be entered to win a gift card for your support!
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Dec 14, 2022
Strictly Facts' 2022 Wrap Up
What a year 2022 has been! What a better way to close our second year of podcasting than with a discussion of some of our most popular episodes as we gear up for 2023.
Listen to "*Celebrating the Holidays in the Caribbean*."
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Nov 30, 2022
The Caribbean Influence on Fashion with Alcot Laing of Rice & Tees
The Caribbean has influenced fashion and style all over the world, especially in global music culture. In this episode, Alcot Laing joins us for a brief discussion on some of the keen ways that Caribbean people have contributed to, challenged, and shaped fashion culture and our hopes for greater recognition of Caribbean style and pattern!
Alcot Laing is the creative genius behind the Caribbean fashion apparel line Rice & Tees. Through clever wordplay and ingenuity, the brand fuses Caribbean culture, fashion, and art in an unprecedented way. Alcot is a FAMU graduate originally from Spanish Town, Jamaica, raised in both the US and Canada. As the owner of several highly successful businesses, Alcot aims to leave a cultural footprint and legacy for those to come. Follow Rice & Tees on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok and be sure to read our Instagram post to enter our co-sponsored holiday giveaway!
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Nov 16, 2022
A Brief History of Haiti's Battle of Vertières, a Triumph for Human Dignity
On November 18, 1803, Haiti, or what was then Saint-Domingue, successfully defeated the French in the Battle of Vertières, the final conflict in the Haitian Revolution that led to Haiti's proclamation as the first independent Black nation months later. In this episode, I discuss this momentous victory on its anniversary over 200 years laters ahead of Battle of Vertières and Armed Forces Day. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Nov 2, 2022
The 1948 Castries Fire: A Brief History on Disaster and Rebuilding in Colonial St. Lucia with Milt Moise
One of the most defining events of the last century in St. Lucia is the Great Fire of Castries Fire, which destroyed most of the island's capital on June 19, 1948. In this episode, Milt Moise joins us to discuss the events of the fire, its impact in rebuilding St. Lucia's infrastructure, and its social and creative legacies as a the subject of one of the nation's most revered poems.
Milt Moise is a PhD candidate in the Department of English at the University of Florida. His current project examines the uses of absence in contemporary American bipolar fiction. His research interests include consciousness in literature, film and television, prestige TV aesthetics, self-referentiality, Caribbean and Postcolonial literature, and trauma narratives. He is the co-founder of the Television Reading Group at the University of Florida. Follow Milt on Twitter and Letterboxd.
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Oct 19, 2022
Independence and Liberation in 19th Century Cuba Part II with Marley Pulido
Closing out Hispanic Heritage Month, Marley Pulido joins us for this second of a two-part conversation on Cuban independence. Together, we highlight the importance of Afro-Cubans to the island's early movements for liberation and discuss the consequences of their erasure in the subsequent storytelling late-19th and early 20th century Cuba.
Marley Pulido is a Cuban-born community builder, historian and archivist. Marley runs Historia Negra de Cuba, a multilingual digital archive and multimedia creative hub preserving the Black Cuban historical memory of the island and the diaspora. Follow Historia Negra de Cuba on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Oct 5, 2022
Independence and Liberation in 19th Century Cuba Part I
Rarely do nationalist movements arise over night. This is also true for Cuba as we discuss in this first of a two-part series on Cuba's independence movement. Join us in commemorating 154 years since Cuba's Declaration of Independence this week by listening and sharing this episode. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Sep 21, 2022
A Brief History of the Irish in Montserrat with Ursula Petula Barzey
Did you know that, outside of Ireland, the only other nation to celebrate St. Patrick's Day as a national holiday is the Caribbean island of Montserrat? Montserrat's celebration of its Irish connections go beyond a long history of Irish migration and colonialism to also honor its history of Black freedom and attempted emancipation. Ursula Petula Barzey joins this episode to discuss this history and prompts us to consider racial myths and identity in contemporary times.
Ursula Petula Barzey is the Founder & Digital Content Creator of *Caribbean & Co.* Established in 2014 the aim is to promote Caribbean travel, culture and its expanding luxury lifestyle to potential visitors from across the globe. A native of Montserrat who resides in London, United Kingdom, she travels to the Caribbean often to feature the best cultural and foodie experiences, places to stay and live/work opportunities. Thrown in the mix is Caribbean history and heritage. Ursula's mission is to showcase that there is m…
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Sep 7, 2022
A Brief History of the West Indian Day Parade
The West Indian Day Parade is a decades long staple in New York culture. In this brief episode, listen to how the parade was founded as an ode to its post-pandemic return.
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Aug 24, 2022
A Brief History of Bush Medicine with Dr. Julia S. Jordan-Zachery
Bush medicine, herbal medicine, or roots are all names for traditional forms of medicine used across the African diaspora. These traditional forms of healing carry legacies of history and knowledge as we discuss with Dr. Julia S. Jordan-Zachery following the release of her documentary, Healing Roots, on Bajan women's healing practices.
Julia S. Jordan-Zachery is professor and chair of the Women’s Gender and Sexualtiy Studies Department at Wake Forest University. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on African American women and public policy. She is also the author of the award winning books “Black women, cultural images and social policy” (2009 Routledge) and “Shadow Bodies: Black Women, Ideology, Representation, and Politics” (Rutgers University Press, 2017) as well as a number of articles and edited volumes including “Black Girl Magic Beyond the Hashtag” (Arizona University Press, 2019). Jordan-Zachery was awarded the Accinno Teaching Award, Providence College (2015…
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Aug 10, 2022
Carry on Friends: Exploring Dual Citizenship
In the bonus episode, of Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture, we’re doing an episode swap with Carry on Friends: The Caribbean American Podcast.
In this episode, Keisha and Ashley are American-born with strong Jamaican family ties and discuss how their identities motivated them to obtain their Jamaican citizenship. They dive into what inspired them to consider dual citizenship. Ashley explains that while she didn’t need validation from getting her Jamaican citizenship, it is an opportunity that exists and she chose to take advantage of it. She also encourages others to explore this option.
We also touch on dual citizenship for children. Keisha, who has applied for Jamaican citizenship for both her daughter and herself, shares that Jamaica feels like a second home and she wants her daughter to feel the same way through having official Jamaican citizenship.
Additionally, they speak about the application process for Jamaican citizenship. Due to COVID, the proce…
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Jul 27, 2022
A Brief History of Emancipation in Antigua with Dr. Natasha Lightfoot
The anglophone Caribbean and other parts of the former British empire celebrate Emancipation Day on the First of August, commemorating the abolition of slavery on August 1, 1804. In this episode, Dr. Natasha Lightfoot joins us for a discussion on Antigua's intricate story of emancipation, freedom, and the impact of colonialism then and now.
Natasha Lightfoot is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and Faculty Fellow in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University. Her research and teaching interests include Atlantic slavery and emancipation, Black community formation and acts of resistance, and daily practices of freedom in the nineteenth-century English speaking Caribbean. She is the author of Troubling Freedom: Antigua and the Aftermath of British Emancipation (Duke University Press, 2015), which focuses on black working people’s struggles and everyday forms of liberation in British colonial Antigua after slavery’s end. Sh…
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Jul 13, 2022
The History of US Immigration Policies & Caribbean Migration with Joy Charles
US Immigration policies have historically marginalized people of color across the world. In this episode, Joy Charles joins us to discuss how these policies have disproportionately affected immigrants from the Caribbean despite our long history and major contributions in the United States.
A proud daughter of Afro-Latino heritage, a New Yorker and practitioner of the Afro-Brazilian tradition Candomblé, Joy Charles graduated from Hunter College, CUNY, with a BA in Political Science and Anthropology. As a student at Quinnipiac Law, Joy is interested in the areas of international and immigration law where she seeks to become a powerful agent of change by creating policies that effectively address the pressing concerns of communities of color. She is an active member of Juristas Negras (Black Women Jurists), an international collective based in Brazil that focuses on the empowerment and advancement of Black women in the law. Joy is particularly interested in championing the advancement o…
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Jun 29, 2022
Puerto Rico's Bomba: A Musical Revolution with Dr. Sarah Bruno
Long before Puerto Rico became known for reggaeton, the island had bomba. A music and dance tradition created by enslaved and self-emancipated Africans to forge community and even incite rebellion, bomba has continued to grow as a space of Black identity, community, and ancestral connection. In this episode, Dr. Sarah Bruno shares with us this history.
Sarah Bruno is the 2022-2023 postdoctoral fellow in Latinx Art, Cultures, and Religions in the Humanities Research Center at Rice University. Her research and art lie at the intersections of performance, diaspora, and digitality. She is currently creating a digital exhibition of the Fernando Pico papers, and as a member of LifeXCode: Digital Humanities Against Enclosure and Taller Electric Marronage. The Pico Papers informs her first manuscript, Re-Sounding Resistencia where she uses the Afro-Puerto Rican genre of bomba as a site and method in constructing a cartography of Black Puerto Rican femme feeling throughout history. Dr. Bruno w…
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Jun 15, 2022
Strictly Facts' Summer Reading 2022
What a better time to catch up on some Caribbean history books than during Caribbean American Heritage Month! We're reading Aunty Roachy Seh by Louise Bennett-Coverley, Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James, and Far from Mecca: Globalizing the Muslim Caribbean by Aliyah Khan. Read along with us and let us know what else you're reading this summer! Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Jun 1, 2022
Sir Randol Fawkes & Bahamian Labor History
Happy National Caribbean Heritage Month! In this episode, we celebrate the life and legacy of Sir Randol F. Fawkes, Bahamian "Father of Labor," in honor of Sir Randol Fawkes Labor Day this Friday, June 3rd. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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May 18, 2022
Carry On Friends: In Solidarity
In this bonus episode of Strictly Facts, we’re doing an episode swap with Carry On Friends The Caribbean American Podcast featuring the episode "Solidarity".
In this episode we discuss the legacy of Caribbean Americans in Civil Rights and the importance of continuing our participation for equal rights.
In the words of Black Uhuru's "Solidarity!"
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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May 4, 2022
Who Are Your National Heroes?
Celebrations of national heroes in the Caribbean pay homage to individuals who have had an immense impact on the region. In this quick chat, we discuss Barbados' national heroes and their impact, and even talk about who we'd like to see as national heroes moving forward. Let us know who you think should be your island's next national hero!Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Apr 20, 2022
Haiti: The Legacy of the First Black Republic with Dr. Yveline Alexis
Formerly known as Saint Domingue, Haiti is the world's first Black republic and the first independent Caribbean nation. Despite these facts, Haiti has faced a series of postcolonial challenges rooted in the racial threat the Haiti Revolution (1791-1804) posed to the rest of the world. Dr. Yveline Alexis joins our discussion to discuss the legacy of the Haitian Revolution and the numerous examples of neocolonial imposition Haiti faced in the aftermath of independence.
Yveline Alexis studies the Global Black past. She is an Associate Professor at Oberlin College. Her first book, Haiti Fights Back gained the prized Haitian Studies Association Book award and a nod in The Times Literary Supplement as a 2021 Book of the Year.
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Apr 6, 2022
Post-emancipation Migrations in the French Caribbean with Dr. Philippe Zacaïr
In a similar fashion to other Caribbean islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Haiti remained in close connection throughout France's colonialism. Dr. Philippe Zacaïr joins this episode to discuss how these connections strengthened after Haiti's triumph as the first Black republic in 1804.
Philippe Zacaïr was born and raised in Guadeloupe, in the Eastern Caribbean. He received his Ph.D. in history in 1999 from the University of Paris-Sorbonne Nouvelle in France. He has been a faculty member of the History Department of California State University Fullerton since 2002. He teaches Latin American, Caribbean, and world history. He is the editor of Haiti and Haitians in the Wider Caribbean (University Press of Florida, 2010). His work has appeared in Cahiers du Monde Hispanique et Luso-Brésilien, Caribbean Studies, The Journal of Caribbean History, French Colonial History, the Bulletin d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe, and Recherches Haïtiano-Antillaises. His current research projects explo…
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Mar 23, 2022
The History of Jewish-Caribbean Connections in the Caribbean with Ainsley Henriques
Jewish life in the Caribbean extends as far back as the fifteenth century with Jewish-European migration following patterns of trade and colonialism to the region. Ainsley Henriques, Jewish-Jamaican genealogist and Administrator of Kahal Kadosh Sha'are Shalom synagogue in Kingston, Jamaica, joins Strictly Facts to map out this long history and describe how it figures into the Caribbean's ethnic diversity.
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Mar 9, 2022
Calypso: The Original Music of the Caribbean with Meagan A. Sylvester - Music Sociologist.Author.Researcher
Originating in the nineteen century, calypso is a genre of Caribbean music that can be traced since spread across the region and its diaspora through migration. In this episode, we discuss calypso's evolving history, impact, and representation of Caribbean culture and society.
*Meagan A. Sylvester - Music Sociologist.Author.Researcher* is a published author of over fifteen book chapters and journal articles and is a well know public academic in her native Trinidad and Tobago where she participates in both television and radio discussions on the Calypso and Soca musical artforms. Her research topics of interest are Music and National Identity in Calypso and Soca, Music of Diasporic Carnivals, Narratives of Resistance in Calypso and Ragga Soca music, Steelpan and kaisoJazz musical identities, Gender and Identity in Calypso and Soca music and Music and Human Rights in the Americas. She has presented academic papers and hosted scholarly workshops in several spaces across the globe includi…
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Feb 23, 2022
The History of the Garifuna: Indigenous Legacies in the Caribbean with Dr. Paul Joseph López Oro
The Garifuna are an Afro-indigenous community native to Saint Vincent who, in the late eighteenth century, were forcibly exiled to Central America after surrendering to the British during the Second Carib War. Dr. Paul Joseph López Oro joins this episode to discuss this history and the preservation and legacy of Garifuna traditions throughout Central America and the US today.
Dr. Paul Joseph López Oro is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Smith College and the 2021-2022 Miriam Jiménez Román Fellow at The LatinX Project at New York University. His research and teaching interests are on Black Latin American and U.S. Black Latinx social movements, Black Feminist & LGBTQ activism and political mobilizations, and Black Queer Feminist ethnographies in the Américas. His in-progress manuscript, Indigenous Blackness in the Americas: The Queer Politics of Self-Making Garifuna New York is a transdisciplinary ethnography on how gender and sexuality shapes the way…
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Feb 9, 2022
The Aftermath of the Panama Canal with Dr. Khemani Gibson
Following the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, some West Indian migrants returned home, but also many stayed and formed new West Indian-Panamanian communities. In this episode Dr. Khemani Gibson shares the challenges and experiences these newly formed communities faced and helps us reconsider the limits of nation and empire in the Caribbean.
Khemani Gibson is a historian of the African Diaspora focusing on the Black migration in the Caribbean Basin looking at the West Indian immigrant community in Panama during the twentieth century. For his manuscript entitled: Citizens of Their Own Nation: The West Indian Immigrant Community in Panama, 1914-1961, he examines how West Indian immigrants used migration and claims making as methods to achieve full freedom in the post-emancipation circum-Caribbean. The manuscript explores the development of the West Indian immigrant community in Panama and how its members responded to the racial antagonism they encountered while dealing with the A…
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Jan 26, 2022
The History of Papiamentu/o in the Dutch Caribbean with Keisha Wiel
The Caribbean is rich with diversity, including our languages. In this episode, Keisha I. Wiel joins us in sharing about the history of Papiamentu/o, the widely spoken language in the Dutch Caribbean islands, and even official language in Aruba and Curaçao, that combines Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Keisha Wiel is a PhD candidate in the anthropology department at Temple University with a concentration in linguistic anthropology. Her dissertation research examines language socialization, multilingualism, linguistic rights, and education in a postcolonial state. Her research interests primarily focus on the socialization of language ideas in education how it frames the identity of students. Specifically, her dissertation research is based on how children are socialized into ideas about Papiamento/u and Dutch in secondary education in Aruba and Curaçao. Follow Keisha on Twitter here.
*Don't forget* to take the Strictly Facts 2022 Listener Survey. Complete for a chance to win an Ama…
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Jan 12, 2022
Happy First Birthday Strictly Facts!
This week we're celebrating Strictly Facts's first birthday! This brief episode is a massive thank you to all our listeners and a note to take the Strictly Facts 2022 Listener Survey. Complete for a chance to win an Amazon gift card and let us know what you'd like to see from us in the new year! Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Dec 22, 2021
The History of Jamaica's Maroons with Chief Richard Currie
Maroon populations across Latin America and the Caribbean have a unique history of self-emancipation and, for some, sovereignty. In this episode, His Excellency, Chief Richard Currie, Head of State of Cockpit Country, one of Jamaica's maroon communities, joins us for a necessary discussion on the maroons' origins and their significance in Jamaican history. Follow Chief Currie on Instagram and Twitter and support Cockpit Country's fundraiser. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Dec 8, 2021
Celebrating the Holidays in the Caribbean
It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year with family and traditions bringing us together for the holidays. Our penultimate episode of 2021 discusses just some of the ways we celebrate the holidays in the Caribbean with food, fun, and of course music and culture. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Nov 24, 2021
The U.S. Virgin Islands: The History of Danish and US Colonialism with Dr. Hadiya Sewer
Made up of the main islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands has remained under colonial rule since Danish invasion in the latter 1600s. In this episode, Dr. Hadiya Sewer historicizes local revolutions and reception to the USVI's longstanding occupation, also highlighting the effects of American colonialism over last century.
Hadiya Sewer is a Research Fellow in the African and African American Studies Program at Stanford University and a Visiting Scholar in the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University. Dr. Sewer's work uses a non-sovereign territory in the Caribbean, the United States Virgin Islands, as a case study for tracing the conceptions of freedom and the human that exist under contemporary colonialism. Sewer earned their Ph.D. in Africana Studies at Brown University. Their scholarship focuses on environmental justice and Africana decolonial, feminist, queer, and political theories. They are currently working on two m…
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Nov 10, 2021
The History of Belizean Culture and Migration with Dr. Nicole Ramsey
Formerly known as British Honduras, Belize's culture has evolved from a series of Black and indigenous people moving to and from the country. In this episode, Dr. Nicole Ramsey shares how these movements have been critical to Belize's identity formation, as well as the growing diaspora in the U.S west coast.
Dr. Nicole Ramsey is an interdisciplinary educator, writer and researcher from Los Angeles, California. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American an African Studies at the University of Virginia. Her research examines formations of blackness, identity and nation and is concerned with conceptions of belonging across the circum-Caribbean and particularly in Belize and the Belizean diaspora in the U.S. Follow Nicole on Twitter and Instagram. Support the show
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Oct 27, 2021
The History of the Panama Canal: Reconsidering Race and Borders with Dr. Kaysha Corinealdi
The Panama Canal was envisioned as a waterway to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans hundreds of years before its construction. When official building began in the 19th century and continued into the 20th century, thousands of Francophone and Anglophone Caribbean people migrated as laborers to the canal zone. Dr. Kaysha Corinealdi joins us to talk about how their migration transformed Panamanian society and Panama's growing diaspora.
Dr. Kaysha Corinealdi is an Assistant Professor of History at Emerson College. Her research and teaching interests include twentieth century histories of empire, migration, feminism, and Afro-diasporic activism in the Americas. Her forthcoming book, Panama in Black, centers the activism of Afro-Caribbean migrants and their descendants as they navigated practices and policies of anti-Blackness, xenophobia, denationalization, and white supremacy in Panama and the United States. Her research and reviews can also be found in the Caribbean Review of Gender…
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Oct 13, 2021
The Life and Legacy of the Steppin' Razor: Peter Tosh
Rastafari reggae musician and activist Peter Tosh (1944-1987) was born Winston Hubert McIntosh in Westmoreland, Jamaica. Tosh quickly went on to found musical group The Wailers alongside Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. After the group disbanded in 1974, Tosh continued to make music as a solo artist, with hits like "Legalize It" and "Equal Rights," as well as being an advocate for Black freedom in Jamaica and across the world. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Sep 29, 2021
The History of the Dutch Caribbean Islands with Dr. Margo Groenewoud
We have many differences in the Caribbean, namely language, but also many similarities. In this week's episode, Dr. Margo Groenewoud shares with us the creative, political, and social histories of the Dutch Caribbean and why she believes islands like Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao are sometimes neglected in discussions about the Caribbean region.
Dr. Margo Groenewoud is a Caribbean lecturer and researcher working at the intersection of humanities and social sciences. She obtained a PhD degree at the University of Leiden (humanities) and the University of Curaçao (social sciences). As social historian she specializes in the twentieth century Dutch Caribbean, with as particular interests postcolonialism, social justice, cultural and intellectual history and digital humanities. She is senior lecturer at the University of Curaçao and board member of the University of Curaçao Research Institute (UCRI). Current research projects include Traveling Caribbean Heritage (NWO, 2018-2021) and the…
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Sep 15, 2021
Puerto Rico's Long Fight for Independence with Nina Vazquez
Puerto Rico is one of America's remaining colonies after being ceded to the U.S. by Spain in 1898. In this episode, Puerto Rican scholar Nina Vazquez discusses the island's long history of colonization and activism in an attempt to become an independent Caribbean island and what are the current beliefs around independence today.
Nina Vazquez is an aspiring Caribbeanist Historian. She is originally from Aguada, Puerto Rico and she moved stateside where she has earned her Bachelor degree(s) in Criminal Justice and Political Science with a concentration in Racism. She recently graduated from the University of Connecticut with her Master’s Degree in Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latinx Studies. Nina is an avid advocate for Puerto Rican independence and liberation for all women in the Caribbean and across the globe. She is known for her community activism in the state of Connecticut and in Puerto Rico. Nina Vazquez hopes to educate people on Puerto Rico’s history to better understand the…
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Sep 1, 2021
Colonial Connections: Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Turks & Caicos
Did you know Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Turks & Caicos used to make up the Colony of Jamaica, governed by the UK until 1959? In this episode, we trace the history of these islands and the others that were formerly part of the Colony of Jamaica and discuss why they disbanded.Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Aug 18, 2021
The History of West Indians in Canada with Dr. Marlene Gaynair
With both Anglophone and Francophone Caribbean connections, Canada is one of the foremost locations of Caribbean life in the diaspora. Featuring Jamaican-Canadian historian Dr. Marlene Gaynair, we discuss Canada's longstanding, and at times problematic, historical relationship with the Caribbean and how West Indians abroad have created unity and community namely since the twentieth century.
Dr. Marlene Gaynair is a historian of the Black Atlantic, with a particular focus on North America and the English-speaking Caribbean. She is an associate editor at Gotham, The Center for New York City History, and architect of "Islands in the North," an interactive, curated exhibit (re)creating Black cultural and spatial identities in Toronto. In the coming year, she will be the William Lyon Mackenzie King Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Weatherhead Center, and thereafter, assistant professor of History at Washington State University. Follow Dr. Gaynair on Twitter at @blkatlanticCDN.
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Aug 4, 2021
The West Indian Federation (1958-1962) with Dr. Patsy Lewis
Before many of the formerly British Caribbean territories became independent nations, they attempted to create a political union known as the West Indian Federation. The short-lived union only lasted four years, but went on to influence future organizations for regional unity like the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), which later became the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Joined by Dr. Patsy Lewis, we discuss the history of the West Indian Federation, its failures, and current and future possibilities for regional integration.
Dr. Patsy Lewis is a Visiting Professor and Faculty Fellow of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and the Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Brown University. She is a graduate of Cambridge University (Mphil, PhD.) and the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica (BA). Before coming to Brown she was Professor of Regional Integration and Small States Development at the University of the West Indie…
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Jul 21, 2021
Caribbean Festival Culture: The History behind the Fete with Shauna Rigaud
Caribbean carnival is one of the region's most famous annual celebrations comprised with lively music, dancing, and of course lavish costumes. Shauna Rigaud joins us this week to discuss carnival's history and the history of Barbados' Crop Over festival.
Shauna holds a BA in African American Studies from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a master’s in both Gender/Cultural Studies and Communication Management from Simmons University, in Boston. She is a PhD candidate in the Cultural Studies program at George Mason University. As a burgeoning scholar focused on the Caribbean, she hopes to highlight experiences and stories that give a more nuanced understand of the Caribbean, its history and postcolonial condition. Her research interests include a focus on the Caribbean Diaspora, Performance and Performativity, Black feminism and Caribbean feminism. She is also the co-founder of Mayhem246 a concierge company that specializes in providing entertainment experiences during B…
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Jul 7, 2021
Big People Tings: Claudia Jones
Our second "Big People Tings" highlight is Trinidadian Marxist, Black Feminist writer and political organizer Claudia Jones (1915-1964). Jones was one of the leading Black female organizers in the Communist Party in the USA and later went on to organize and celebrate the Afro-Caribbean community in the UK through her founding of the West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News, Britain's first major Black newspaper, and first Caribbean carnival in the 1950s.
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Jun 23, 2021
Let's Chat Caribbean Literature with Desiree C. Bailey
Caribbean writers have undoubtedly left their mark on history. In this episode, we talk with author Desiree C. Bailey about Caribbean literature, common themes that have inspired her story and her recently published book What Noise Against the Cane, which combines Caribbean history, music, and culture.
Desiree C. Bailey is the author of What Noise Against the Cane (Yale University Press, 2021), winner of the 2020 Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize. She is also the author of the fiction chapbook In Dirt or Saltwater (O'clock Press, 2016) and has short stories and poems published in Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, American Short Fiction, Callaloo, the Academy of American Poets and elsewhere. Desiree has a BA from Georgetown University, an MFA in Fiction from Brown University and an MFA in Poetry from New York University. She has received fellowships from the Norman Mailer Center, Kimbilio Fiction, Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, Poets House, The Conversation and Princeton in A…
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Jun 9, 2021
Caribbean American Migration
Celebrate Caribbean American Heritage Month with us this June as we journey through movements of Caribbean people to the US in the latter twentieth century!
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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May 26, 2021
Big People Tings: Walter Rodney
"Big People Tings" is a new continuing series where we highlight an individual Caribbean changemaker and discuss their contributions to our history and future. For our first episode of the series, we discuss Guyanese-born public intellectual and Pan-Africanist Dr. Walter Rodney (1942-1980) who played an integral role in the Black Power movement in the Caribbean and helped found the Working People's Alliance, a Guyanese political party for working class' rights, in the 1970s. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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May 12, 2021
The History of Indian Indentureship in the Caribbean with Cristine Khan
The Caribbean is made up of a number of ethnic groups, mostly as a result of colonialism between the 18th and 20th centuries. To commemorate Indian Arrival Day throughout the Caribbean, this week's episode discusses the roots of Indian indentureship with doctoral student Cristine Khan and how connecting these histories is integral to Caribbean connections moving forward.
Cristine Khan is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center where she works at the Teaching and Learning Center and also teaches at Hunter College and Queens College. With experience as a critical educator and researcher in Latin America and Europe, she currently conducts research on intergenerational Indo-Caribbean identity formations and racialization processes in New York City. She was born and raised in New York City to Guyanese parents, which has shaped her trajectory as a researcher and educator.
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Apr 28, 2021
Review Session: Our Voices. Our Histories.
Class is in session! For this very brief episode, we recap major themes and takeaways from our first six episodes as part of our regular Review Sessions. With each Review Session, we ask you, our listeners, to fill out a brief survey on your thoughts and what you'd like to see from Strictly Facts moving forward. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Apr 14, 2021
A History of Caribbean Style with Lauren Baccus
Traditional or folk style and dress in the Caribbean has a long, intricate history that differs across the region. Speaking with textile researcher Lauren Baccus, we discuss folk style's early origins and its complicated evolution as a staple of cultural celebrations today. Let us know your thoughts via the Voicemail feature on our website!
Lauren Baccus is a textile artist and researcher whose work centers around the construct and deconstruction of Caribbean identity through costume, textile and dress. She is strongly influenced by masquerade, the region’s legacy of resistance through clothing, and the universality of play through dress. Her most recent project, Salt and Aloes, is an archive of Caribbean material culture over the past century. Support the show
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Mar 31, 2021
Caribbean Languages with Dr. Joseph T. Farquharson
Dialects, creoles, patwa/patois, there are so many names for languages spoken in the Caribbean. Caribbean languages have been historically degraded in favor of the colonial position that has long advocated for "standard" English over our own native tongues. Speaking with linguistics expert Dr. Joseph T. Farquharson, we discuss how these languages have historically evolved and what we can do to better advocate for their celebration moving forward.
Dr. Joseph T. Farquharson earned his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) focused on Linguistics from The University of the West Indies, Mona. He now serves as a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics in the Department of Language, Linguistics and Philosophy, and Deputy Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and coordinator of the Jamaican Language Unit. You can find more of his work here and on social media @jtfarquharson, and the work of the Jamaica Language Unit @braadkya…
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Mar 17, 2021
A Brief History of Caribbean Religion with Dr. Aliyah Khan
Religion is an integral part of Caribbean history and culture, some of which were introduced as a result of colonization and enslavement and others that are syncretic religions, or made up of a combination of religions. In this episode, Dr. Aliyah Khan and I discuss a handful of Caribbean religions, the influence of music and culture, and her recent book, Far from Mecca: Globalizing the Muslim Caribbean, that charts the growth of Islam in the Caribbean from both the Afro- and Indo-Caribbean experience.
Dr. Aliyah Khan, a native of Guyana, is Associate Professor of English Language and Literature, and Afroamerican and African Studies, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Khan holds a Ph.D. in Literature and Feminist Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing--Fiction from Hunter College of the City University of New York. Her research areas are Caribbean literature and Islamic literature, with emphases on race, gender, and sexualit…
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Mar 3, 2021
The History of Caribbean Immigration
This episode of Strictly Facts charts just some of the connections between the Caribbean and its diaspora as a result of slavery and migration. This episode charts both direct and indirect connections to places London, New York, Louisiana, and the southeast US coast to discuss how West Indian culture and ideas has impacted different parts of the world. Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Feb 17, 2021
The Geography of the Caribbean with Melanie White
Caribbean geography is often defined by the Caribbean Sea, but our historical and cultural borders go well beyond these physical boundaries. In this episode, we talk about how to define the boundaries, inter-regional travel, and migration around the Caribbean with our very first guest, scholar Melanie White.
Melanie White is an interdisciplinary scholar, writer, and researcher from Miami, Florida. She is currently a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellow and PhD candidate in Africana Studies at Brown University. In 2015, she earned her B.A. in Cultural Anthropology with a minor in Africana Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Posse Scholar and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. In 2017, she received her M.A. in African and African Diaspora Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Melanie's dissertation research dwells at the intersection of Black visual culture studies, Afro-Latin American studies, Caribbean studies, and Black feminist thought. More broadly,…
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Feb 3, 2021
The Caribbean Oral History Tradition
Kicking off Black History month, this episode discusses the importance of oral storytelling in the Caribbean. From familial stories passed down through generations to historically significant folktales, oral histories are not only one of the earliest forms of historical narratives, but this form of storytelling features details often left out of history books. Think of Strictly Facts as bridging the two! Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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Jan 15, 2021
Introducing Strictly Facts
Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture is a podcast and educational platform that aims to educate and celebrate Caribbean history through our art and music, hosted by Alexandria Miller.
Subscribe now to get our very first episode when it launches on February 3rd to kick off Black History Month.Support the show
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*Produced by Breadfruit Media
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